ELMWOOD PLACE, Ohio — Before opening their doors at noon, the librarians squeeze tables and chairs between the book stacks to prepare for the onslaught of hungry children. Usually, two or three dozen show up, but occasionally, up to 70 do.
During the summer, they come to this tiny branch in Elmwood Place, a village in greater Cincinnati, for “Captain Underpants,” air-conditioning and, lately, a hot meal.
One recent Thursday, most of the pint-size patrons signed up for free lunch even before reserving a computer. Older kids, lanky from growth spurts, first beelined for the internet, then wrote their names down to get the day’s meal — macaroni with ground beef — after a gentle reminder from Kevin Collett, a library services assistant.
A woman from a nearby church — the program sponsor — delivered lunch. Librarians assembled each share. Then LeeAnn McNabb, the branch manager, summoned children, one by one, to get cantaloupe slices, an apple, a roll, milk and the warm entree.
“We come Monday through Friday, unless there’s an unforeseeable catastrophe,” said Lorrie Spraggins, 58, who lives nearby with her daughter and grandchildren. “With eight people in this family, and five under 18, it really helps.”
Hundreds of libraries are now serving federally funded summer meals to children to ensure that they don’t go hungry. The change is part of an effort to stay relevant to patrons, and to pair nutrition and educational activities so low-income children get summertime learning, too.
Enid Costley, the children’s and youth services consultant for Library of Virginia, summed up the rationale for starting to serve free food: “For kids to be well-read, they need to be well-fed.”
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